For a car manufacturer that only last year were considered by some to be behind their major competitors with electric vehicle development, Volkswagen seem to have caught up very fast, and will be entering many markets ahead of their competitors, with a compelling product.

The first Volkswagen Group electric car to go on sale in the UK will be the Volkswagen e-up! city car. Order books will open in November, with the first deliveries in January 2014. Following this and on sale mid-2014 will be the e-Golf, followed at the end of the year by the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid. Key to the success of these cars will be their ‘normality’: avoiding the compromises which are frequently required when purchasing an alternatively-powered vehicle, these are conventional and existing popular hatchbacks – powered by electricity.

Volkswagen Group (UK) Limited has signed a partnership deal with green energy supplier, Ecotricity, to provide a 100 per cent green energy offer to all customers purchasing an electric-powered vehicle from one of the Group brands.

The announcement comes shortly after the Volkswagen Group’s Chairman, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, announced on the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show that the (more…)

Following the news last week that Kia will launch an all-electric car for the US market in 2014, the all-electric version of the new Kia Soul is definitely coming to the UK, but the company is still debating whether the batteries will be part of the sales package or supplied on a monthly lease basis, and they aren’t exactly ambitious about sales volumes.

“We want the car,” says Yaser Shabsogh, the company’s UK commercial director. “We have the technology so we want it so we can demonstrate it. It gives us a real branding opportunity.”

The Soul EV is likely to arrive in the UK in just over 12 months’ time – eight months or so after the combustion-engined models.

“We are still working on our strategy for the EV,” says Shabsogh. “We haven’t decided yet whether we are going to sell the battery or lease it.”

If the car is sold as a complete package Shabsogh anticipates a price of at least £20,000 before the government’s low emission vehicle grant of up to £5,000.

“It is not going to be priced to try to stimulate demand,” Shabsogh says. “We won’t be selling hundreds of them – maybe a couple of hundred, mostly in (more…)

Keeping jittery investors happy is clearly a priority for Tesla after the Model S fire last week, and Elon Musk knows a thing or two about managing investors… well respected Jefferies analyst Elaine Kwei took a tour of the factory, test drove a model S and spoke to investors, after which she voiced her support loud and clear:

“Based on our discussions with investors and opinions expressed by current/prospective owners, it appears the Model S is still considered safer than conventional vehicles, in contrast to media headlines questioning electric-vehicle safety. Risk of a vehicle fire is still far lower in a Tesla”

“…demand remains strong for the Model S and is confident the stock price will quickly rebound from last week´s decline. The company´s track record of innovation and ground-breaking products give us confidence in the execution of future vehicles”

She also boosted her price target on the company’s stock to $210.

Both Elaine Kwei and Elon Musk are mirroring their message on the safety of the car, and referenced “the incredible safety of the company’s vehicles”.

On the Tesla blog, Elon has this to say about the saftey of the Model S vs ICE cars…

Latest update [8th October]: “Tesla Motors had regained most of the value it lost in the wake of the accident” after Jefferies analyst Elaine Kwei boosted her price target on the company’s stock to $210 after visiting Tesla and test driving a Model S.

Key points:

Tesla shares fall 6% 24 hours after the news broke

Drop is shares may also have been caused by an analyst downgrade

Incident report suggested the fire was started in the battery

Driver is said to have hit a large piece of metal debris that caused the crash

firefighters said to have struggled to contain the flames

[8th October]Tesla’s stock value recovers almost to the pre-fire value

Statement from Tesla:

“The vehicle performed as it was designed to do…

…On Tuesday, a Model S collided with a large metallic object in the middle of the road, causing significant damage to the vehicle, the car’s alert system signalled a problem and instructed the driver to pull over safely, which he did. No one was injured, and the sole occupant had sufficient time to exit the vehicle safely and call the authorities.

The fire occurred after one of the 12 batteries used to power the vehicle was ruptured, and ignited. Each of (more…)

Korean automotive manufacturer Kia has announced that it will be selling an all electric version of it’s “Soul” cross-over in the US market in 2014.

There isn’t much detail yet, but Kia plan to announce more at the next big auto show. They do mention recyclability, claiming 85-percent of its materials can be recycled after use.

This isn’t Kia’s first EV, in 2012 they began production of an electric car based on the “Ray” for use by Korean government agencies as a pilot project. It was expected that the Ray would be launched as a production EV, but it seems that have chosen a different model as their EV platform for the US market – rumours have been in the auto press for some time, with spy shots circulating since July.

Kia already produce a hybrid for the US market, and along with affiliate partner Hyundai are working on Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles.

The press release from Kia…

At the media launch of the all-new 2014 Soul, Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced plans to offer an all-electric version of the company’s iconic Soul urban passenger vehicle in select markets in (more…)

Green Automotive Company (OTC: GACR) today announced that Ian Hobday has been named CEO with effect from the 1st September 2013. He will take on this role in addition to his current position as CEO of GAC’s UK subsidiary Liberty Electric Cars and will continue to be a Director of GAC. Hobday will be responsible for implementing the strategy developed by the management team of GAC which, amongst other things, will see it launch a “first-of-its-kind” electric shuttle bus through its subsidiary Newport Coachworks in February 2014. Hobday assumes the CEO position as Fred Luke, steps down from his role as President whilst continuing to work with the company as a Director.

“These are exciting times for Green Automotive Company and our industry, and I look forward to leading GAC to the success I am sure it is poised to achieve.”

“Electric vehicles represent the clear future of the automotive industry and our strategic focus on developing, designing, manufacturing, selling and supporting in this category will be key to our success going forward. I am delighted to have accepted the Board’s nomination to this role and will utilize all my enthusiasm, energy (more…)